Claw clutch



Ap 15, 1952 A.MOESSINGER CLAW CLUTCH Filed Aug. 27, 1945 In m a .1 M m 5 a1 .T l A m ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1952 signer to Sulz'er Frere s, Societe 'Anonyme Winterthunswitzerland' 1 Application August 27, 1945,. Serial .No...612,86.4 'In'Switzerland January20,1945v 5 Qlaims. (01. 192-6 1 The present invention relates to a claw coupling particularly for. looms. It consists primarily in the provision of a blocking member which is fixedto one coupling half. and falls in front of a contact surface of the second 'coupling half when the coupling isdisengagedand keeps the two coupling -halves apart by "atleast the disengaging length during a definite relative angle of turning, so'that the coupling is. prevented from re-engaging.

In a suitable embodiment, the blocking member with its blockingportion falls in between the coupling halves in such a way that the'two coupling halves are held, apart by at least the disengaging length duringa certain relative angle of turning. The axial extension ofthe blocking portion may be made at least equal, to the. axial extension of the claw. It is preferable that, when turning one coupling half with respect to the otheryat least one claw face slide-on the blockingportion of' the blocking member until the claw faces are at'leastpartly opposite each other and one claw face hasmoved from the face of the blocking member to the opposite claw face. On theclaw face of one coupling half, a recess may be provided.- into-which, when the coupling is disengaged, a-blockingmember'falls,

the axial extension .of the blocking member'beinggreater than the axial extension of the& claws by at least the axialdepth ofthe-recess.

It is-preferablefthat the recess on the claw head slide on the blockingportionofthe blockingmember when one. coupling'half is turned with respect tothe other until the claw-faces of the two coupling halves cover each otherat least. toa certain extent and can turnfurther while sliding .on eachother. Preferably, the blocking-member is held yieldingly in. blocking. positionby means of. a spring to assurecorrectaction of the blocking member before the claw head:of

.one. coupling half. slides from. the claw-head: of

the other coupling half. One, coupling half is axially displaceable andis, preferably pressed against. the second coupling half; 'by- .at. least one. spring, which effects the. automatic re-lenmounted to 'turnbutis immovablein the axial direction. For certain applicatio'nsofthe new clutch, it may be. desirable-for. the second coupling half. to;be stationary.andunmcvable.

The .adoptionof. the claw: couplingsaccordingfio thev invention. istof. advantage wherever: the 10011- pling halves, engaging one another "during normal service, are to be uncoupled and temporarily blocked'in this position, whereby this blocking position'may-beused for the-performance of another "control step. Therelative rotation of the two coupling halvesmayamount at' the most'to 360beforethe two coupling halves again engage automatically.

The claw "coupling according to the invention could, for instance, beinserted in, a mechanism for driving the auxiliarymotions-in-looms,' in order to facilitate reversing the -shed-or the movement ofthe harnesses-from the open shed into the closed shed position and vice 'versa, whereby "the changing of defectively inserted Weft threads or the "drawing-in of. broken Wrap threads can be performed more quickly, since the number of motions to be .carriedout bythe at.- tendants is decreased and the motions remaining to be effected aresimplified. Theclawcoupling according to the invention could, however, also be built into agitating mechanisms, machine tools, etc.

One embodiment of the invention isishown in the accompanyingjdrawing.

Fig. 1 shows one coupling half. and

Fig. 2 the second coupling.halfiinperspective.

Fig. 3 shows. the two coupling halves in .the coupled position; in.perspective.

Figs. 4. andj5, show intermediate.tpositions. of

the two coupling halves in perspective.

The coupling half or clutch part shown in Fig. 11 has a claw ringjl fitted with a sprocket wheel 2 andashaftibore ,3,jthe.c1aw ring l beingjalso .space I l; theblockingpawl I3 is swingablycarried by. pin l2. .The blockin portion [311 of the blocking pawl I3. ispressed.intol'blocking\poe sition by a leafspring I41 'fixedto the claw It. The axial extension-H. of the. blockingpawl I3 is greater than. the axial extension h of the claw l6.

Accordingv to. Fig. 2, thersecond coupling half orclutchpart 4 isformed asa sleeve and fitted with inner splines 1. Theecoupling half 4 is mounted on a shaft; 5-equipped .with .splines 6 and a collar -8; thecouplinghalf 4 turnspositively with the, shaftbut can be displaoed'axially. In order tov displace thecoupling sleeve :4. on the shaft 5, the former isprovided .Withanannular groove. l01for receiving-a control fork or. thelike,

operating fianks or faces [5 and 20, which are positioned substantially transversely to the direction of rotational movement ofthe claw portions of the clutch part, abut against each other.

The claw [1 (Fig. 2) is providedwith'a" recess [9 having a contact surface I90: which is parallel to the claw face H. The axial extension of the recess or cut-out 19, 9c corresponds at least to the difference H-h. An approach surface 2| prevents the working edge 13b on the blocking portion 13a from being worn when it slides onto the cylindrical surface of the coupling half 4. Surface 2| forms the bottom of a cut-outon the outer edge of flank 20, which cut-out would be worked into part 4 by the pawl I3 anyway upon continuous operation of the clutch, particularly if the pawl were made of a harder material than part 4.

With the aid of Figs.'3 to 5:, operation of the claw coupling. may be described as followsi From'shaft 5 power is normally transmitted to the sprocket wheel 2. The clutch is adapted to be temporarily disengaged, for example, when it is desired to rotate wheel 2 temporarily in reverse direction. By means of a control fork engaging the annular groove of sleeve 4, the

latter is moved to the left as viewed in the drawings and is disengaged from the coupling part i. The extent of movement of part 4 to the left is limited by collar 8, which is part of shaft 5, and is only a little in excess of h. The cylindrical part of the sleeve 4 has thereby slid out under the blocking portion 13a so far that the blocking portion can fall into'the cut-out 19 (Figs. 4 and 2). The coupling ring I is free to turn on shaft 5 but is prevented from moving axially on shaft 5, for example, by a shoulder on the shaft and a locking ring. Spring 9 inserted between the collar 8 of shaft 5 and the sleeve 4 is compressed when member 4 is moved to the left. If the pressure in the axial direction exerted by the control fork on sleeve 4 stops, spring 9 presses the contact surface 19a of the cut-out or recess I9 against the surface l3c on the blocking portion [3a, thereby preventing re-engagement of the clutch. In this disengaged'position, the claw ring I and the sprocket wheel 2 can rotate in the direction of the arrow 22, whereby the pressure of spring 9, acting in axial direction, is received by the pawl member during a small angle of rotation of the clutch part 1. Upon further rotation in the direction of arrow 22, pawl 13 moves out of the cut-out or recess 19 and the face of claw ll (Fig. 5) runs on the face of claw I6, whereby the blocking surface [3c is relieved from the pressure offspring 5. With further rotation of the coupling half i in the direction of arrow 22, the end surface of claw Iii-slides along the end surface ll of the claw portion of member 4, whereby the mutual contact increases gradually to full coverage. The blocking pawl i3 thus comes into the free space between the claw spaces I], I8 and its'blocking portion l3a falls inward under the action of spring H. i

If the claw l6 slides further in the direction 22, coverage of the faces of claws I6 and I1 is reduced, and pawl 13 runs on the approach surface 2| of claw 11. When rotating the coupling half I further, the edge l3b runs on the cylindrical outside surface of sleeve 4, and the blocking member I3 rides on said surface and is pressed thereto by the action of spring 14. When the coupling half I has made a complete revolution, the edge Ila of the claw I1 slides down over the surface Hia of claw l6, and the sleeve 4 moves under the action of spring 9 to the right as viewed in the drawings until the inclined flank or face I5 comes to lie on the inclined face 20 of claw 11. In this way, claw sleeve 4 again comes into the engaged initial position (Fig. 3).

Instead of providing only one claw 16, I! on each of the coupling halves I, 4, respectively, and thereby having to rotate the disengaged coupling parts through a whole revolution until automatically coupling again, it would be possible to provide two or more claws, whereby the relative angle of rotation between the two coupling halves is reduced to a corresponding fraction of a complete revolution.

I claim:

1. A rotary clutch mechanism comprising two clutch parts adapted to rotate relatively to one another through a predetermined angle of relative rotation, one part having a claw portion having acylindrical surface and an end surface disposed at a right angle to the axis of rotation of the clutch, and a recessed portion in diametrically opposed position with respect to said claw portion; the other part having a claw portion and a recessed portion mating the recessed portion and the claw portion of the first part; a. pawl member pivoted to the second clutch part on an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the clutch and having a portion adapted to drop into the recessed portion of the second clutch part; a recess in the claw portion of the first part adapted to receive said pawl member for preventing axial displacement of said claw portions into the mating recessed portions; the axial extension of said pawl member being greater than the axial extension of the claw portions and the axial extension of said recessbeing substantially equal to the difference between the axial extension of the clutch pawl and that of a clawportion, said recess being sufficiently short in arcuate length to .lift the pawl out of engagement therewith and said pawl being adapted to ride on the cylindrical surface of the claw portion of the first part when relative rotation between the clutch parts takes place while the clutch parts are disengaged, for making the clutch ready for re-engagement after suflicient relative rotation of the clutch parts to place the claw portions and recessed portions in mating position.

2. A clutch mechanism as defined in claim 1, said pawl member having an arcuate surface matching the cylindrical surface of the claw portion of the first part, and said second clutch part having a spring attached thereto and engaging said'pawl member for yieldingly swinging the latter into the recessed portion of the second part.

3. A clutch mechanism as defined in claim 1, said claw portions having mating abutting faces positioned substantially transversely to the direction of their rotational movement, and the claw portion of the first part having a running-on the pawl member on the cylindrical surface upon relative rotation of the clutch parts.

4. A clutch mechanism as defined in claim 1, said claw portions having sloping mating abutting faces positioned transversely to the direction of their rotational movement for gradual axial engagement of the claw portions.

5. A rotary clutch mechanism comprising twoclutch parts adapted to rotate relatively to one another through a predetermined angle of relative rotation, one part having a claw portion having a cylindrical surface and an end surface disposed at a right angle to the axis of rotation of the clutch, and a recessed portion in diametrically opposed position with respect to said claw portion; the other part having a claw portion and a recessed portion mating the recessed portion and the claw portion of the first part; a pawl member pivoted to the second clutch part on an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the clutch and having a portion adapted to ride on the cylindrical surface of the claw portion of the first part when the clutch parts are engaged, and to drop into the recessed portion of the second clutch part when the clutch parts are disengaged, and to slide on the end surface of the claw portion of the first part; the axial extension of said pawl memher being greater than the axial extension of the claw portions and the claw portion of the first part having a running-on surface portion for said pawl adapted to lift said pawl for riding on the cylindrical surface of the claw portion of the first part when relative rotation between the clutch parts takes place while the clutch parts are disengaged, for making the clutch ready for reengagement after suflicient relative rotation of the clutch parts to place the claw portions and recessed portions in mating position.

ALBERT MOESSINGER.

REFERENCES CITED .The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,434,772 Cartlidge Nov. 7, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country I Date 27,819 Great Britain Dec. 17, 1907 606,732 Great Britain Aug. 19, 1948 165,373 Germany Dec. 1, 1905 

